No, Blackface Is Still Not OK, as This White Gay Artist Reminded Us All on Instagram

Somehow, in 2017, not everyone’s gotten the memo that blackface isn’t acceptable. The latest offender is gay artist and Instagrammer Zachary Crane. He decided to dress up as a genderbent version of his favorite X-Man for Halloween this year. What was Crane’s costume? A blackface Storm. Sheesh.

In a development that will shock and surprise no one, Crane’s one of those rare beasts — a gay Trump supporter. Crane has posted a number of photos wearing Trump gear and posing at Trump Tower.

A number of comments went up on his (now-deleted) blackface Storm photos calling him a racist idiot. He replied in a likewise now-deleted post, saying “I’m fully aware that everyone is crying over my costume and calling me a racist piece of shit.… like seriously. Just to let everyone know, I love Storm. Have ever since I was a kid.”

Look, we get it. Storm’s cool. Who doesn’t like Storm? But generally, a good rule of thumb: No matter who you’re portraying, if they’re black, don’t use blackface. It’s not hard, people. Dressing up like them is enough. And, of course, no one would’ve complained had Crane just wore the yellow outfit and the white wig — and everyone would’ve understood who he was.

Crane also fancies himself an artist. You can judge his talent for yourself:

Crane has said that he’s received death threats over his costume. As terrible as his blackface Storm costume is, that’s not okay. No one should ever make or receive death threats.

Still, if we could emblazon it across the sky, we would: Blackface costumes are not okay. Even though a 2015 survey said that 52% of white Americans think there’s no problem with blackface or other offensive costumes on Halloween, don’t do it.

We know we’ve said that before in this article — but apparently the message isn’t getting through. So, one more time for the people in the back: